royalty/nobility

After a long period of unrequited love, I ended up as a duchess in name only.

I endured a cold marriage, hoping that one day Ains would finally notice me…

“Please… let’s get divorced.”

I was exhausted from a love that would never be returned. The conclusion of a one-sided love could only be disastrous.

“But I have a condition. I want a substantial amount of alimony.”

More than anything, facing death, I needed money to cure my illness. So, I decided to get a divorce.

* * *

Though there were lingering effects, my illness was treated, and I was ready to live my life.

“Cecilia, why did you hide the fact that you were sick from me?”

But for some reason, the once indifferent Ains started clinging to me.

“You don’t need to worry about the illness. It’s already been treated.”

“Treated? Do you think someone who’s fully healed would cough up blood?”

“That’s just a lingering effect.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Do you think I’ll believe that?”

His once arrogant eyes now showed signs of anxiety and unease. It was the same look I had seen countless times before, right before I decided to leave him.

“Can’t you guide properly? How stupid.”

Possessing an extra who dies from being exploited as a heroine’s stand-in.

As Yerena, a C-rank guide who calms down the esper male leads.

The three men didn’t treat her as a person. They only saw her as a ‘tool’ for healing.

She found even her death pitiful and absurd.

Torn apart by monsters due to the male leads’ distraction upon the appearance of the female lead.

’As I know the ending, I can’t just stay still.’

***

They say that heaven helps those who help themselves.

Thanks to her taming skills and friendly assistant, Yerena manages to escape from the male leads. How many peaceful months has it been? The rumors reaching her sound oddly ominous.

“It’s about the most famous trio of Espers in Chelsea Center! It’s related to their former guide who passed away in an accident.”

’No, that’s me! The heroine has appeared, so why are they looking for me!’

Three espers still mourn the death of the person who officially died.

“Why can’t they just leave the officially dead alone.”

Against her will, Yelena was forced to play hide-and-seek with the Empire’s most powerful people.

Will she be able to carry on this secluded life until the end?

Chloe, who had been living well after marrying the young King of a neighboring Kingdom for the sake of the Empire, suddenly returned to five years ago.
She hadn’t died, nor had she suffered so much that she regretted her past life.

On the first day of her return, at the break of dawn, her first love, Demetrian, came to find her.
‘I never thought I’d be able to hold this hand again….’
The excitement of meeting him, whom she hadn’t heard from even once, was brief.

“You have no idea how overwhelmed I am right now.”
“I want to do anything you ask…”

He acted like an entirely different person, as if he didn’t know how to hide his affection for her.
He spoke kindly, constantly checked her expression as if always moved, and behaved like someone who wanted to spend as much time with her as possible…
In other words, he acted like someone who openly expressed his love.
So unlike him.

Could it be that he… went through the same thing?

But Demetrian had a fiancée, tied by an arranged marriage between families,
And Chloe was the only pawn to be used in a political marriage with a neighboring country for the Empire in two years.
‘Even so… our future is already determined.’
But when she saw the warmth in his eyes, the gentle curve of his lips, and heard his soft voice,
Chloe couldn’t help but think otherwise.
As if their future wasn’t set in stone…

“I have a secret. I… was married to that Prince.”

Time rewound, and it was ironically the morning after their wedding night.

“Did you sleep well, Catherine?”

The voice of her husband, which she now properly heard, was exceedingly kind. She had misunderstood and hated him because of a wicked stepmother.

“I’m sorry to say this at such a time… but let’s divorce, Hugo.”

On the third day of their marriage, Catherine asked for a divorce for his sake.

***

Catherine was the last descendant of the ‘Clan of Love’ that brings true love to others. After divorcing her husband, she planned to collect the holy water of love by connecting other people’s love. But…

“Long time no see, Catherine.”
“H-Hugo?”
“I guess I should call you my neighbor now, not my wife.”

Her ex-husband Hugo moved in next door to Catherine?!

“I do not love you, Lady Yuliana Loengrin.”

The words that came out of the mouth of her fiancé, whom she had no doubt would propose, were not a confession but a demand for annulment.
However, her troubled heart was short-lived. Ultimately, she ended their nine-year engagement and set out once again due to the emergence of new monsters.
As always, she was accompanied by the fearsome Duke Anthus Rockbellion.

* * *

“A confession is one thing, but I have not permitted you to call me by a nickname, Your Grace.”
“Oh dear, I keep forgetting. Since you didn’t stop me from calling you by a nickname yesterday, I thought it was allowed.”
“Seriously!”
“Because of me, your marriage prospects are blocked, and people misunderstand… I have no choice but to take responsibility.”

Anthus, smiling mischievously, did not miss this opportunity either.
But wait, this man, who couldn’t even make proper eye contact before, why has he suddenly become so brazen?

“You must marry the young master of the Loden family.”
“What are you talking about? You’re joking, right?”

Sophia, the youngest daughter of the Duke Dveshi.
One day, she hears the shocking news from her father that she must enter into an arranged marriage with the young master of the Loden family, a family that had been in a long-standing hostile relationship with theirs.
The other person is the captain of the royal knights and a cold-blooded man, ‘Killian Loden.’
The man who had to marry her in place of his older brother who disappeared on the wedding day seemed to despise her at first glance…

“Ah, what I want… There’s a lot.”
“I take back what I said about ending it with just a kiss.”
“Look at me, Sophie.”

But why is this man acting like a real husband?

*

“Oh, so you weren’t lying.”
“N-now that you know, s-stop.”

However, Killian’s hand showed no sign of stopping. Slowly, methodically, he began to stretch the inner hole.
His touch was both tenacious and persistent. It seemed as if he was determined to explore every part of the inside.

“It’s stretching quite well.”
“S-stop it. It’s enough now, isn’t it? You don’t even like touching my body. Ugh!”

Avoiding his gaze, Sophia looked at Killian with pleading eyes. As he continued to stir inside, obscene sounds echoed throughout the room.

“Congratulations. You’re going to marry me. You’ll become the Duchess.”

Lexion Ernst needed a suitable woman to avoid marriage with the Princess and to deceive the Emperor.

“A fake, huh.”

In her past life, Adelina’s nickname was ‘fake.’
Lexion forcibly pulled her out of the peaceful life she led after being sucked into the mirror.

“You don’t have to do anything.”

Lexion clearly said she didn’t have to do anything.

“This seems like a good spot. To kiss.”
“You said I didn’t have to do anything…”
“You don’t have to do anything. I’ll take care of everything.”

Even though he said she didn’t have to do anything, they had to keep kissing and engaging in intimate skinship.

“You don’t have to do anything. Just lie down.”
“When will you give me the mirror?”
“Soon. Once you bear my child.”

Lexion, this guy! He keeps breaking the contract without giving the promised mirror.

“I hate war, I’m a pacifist!”

Eventually, Adelina got caught up in a war. Now, even her life is in danger.
Can Adelina receive the mirror and return inside it?

On my birthday, my younger sister, who had run away with the man who was supposed to be my husband, returned.

“Is it alright if I stay at the main house, sister?”

Just as my hand was about to fly at her brazen request, an unexpected man intervened.

“No. That would be a bit difficult.”

My younger brother’s best friend. The ultimate king of being cheeky and subtly annoying people, Lennox Diorn!

“You’re stupid and cute. Are you just going to end up embarrassed like this? Getting caught up with your sister who returned after 3 years?”

At his teasing whisper, I unknowingly wrapped my arms around his neck.

“You’re here now, Darling?”

Without realizing it was an impulse that would backfire on me.

『I won’t care about whatever you do, so I hope you won’t interfere with my affairs either.』

“I want to make something clear before the wedding.”

Dyffrin turned to face Evelyn.

“I won’t care about whatever you do, so I hope you won’t interfere with my affairs either.”
“……?”
“And you should know that I have no intention of laying a finger on you. Of course, we’ll be using separate rooms as well.”

Dyffrin recited what was about to happen to him, as if informing his employees of instructions.
Watching him, Evelyn thought,
No matter what, I will divorce him 2 years later and get a large alimony.
However, contrary to Evelyn’s resolution, their relationship flowed in an unpredictable direction.

* * *

“Why are you so adamant about not getting divorced? Is it because of your pride?”
“Because I don’t want to.”
“You don’t even love me!”

Dyffrin wrapped his arms around Evelyn’s waist and pulled her closer.
It was a kiss that felt like it would swallow her whole. He violently bit her lips and ravaged her mouth, almost to the point that it was difficult to breathe properly.
When Evelyn repeatedly hit his chest forcefully, he barely pulled his lips away.

“Isn’t this the kind of love you want? Kissing and making love in the bedroom.”

Evelyn shot back with a sarcastic tone. Dyffrin didn’t care and grabbed Evelyn’s wrist, dragging her.

“Let’s go to the bedroom right now. If you want, I can hold you tenderly and whisper sweet words of love.”
“…I’m really disappointed in you.”
“Haven’t I already been the worst man to you? Being disappointed in me shouldn’t be surprising.”

Saying so, Dyffrin pressed his lips against Evelyn’s once again.

“Evelyn. Divorce is not an option for me. So you need to change your mind.”

Reina, the troublemaker second daughter of the Lennox Duke family.
Her father, the Duke of Lennox, gifts her a necklace just as she becomes an adult.
It is a magical necklace that can tell if you are compatible even before you consummate!
Despite hearing that the necklace tells if you are sexually compatible, she, unlike her usual overflowing curiosity, has no interest in men and neglects the necklace.

However, a month later, Reina accidentally witnesses the knights she trains with bathing.
And she can’t get the image of one particular man, Sir Patrick Marionus, out of her mind.
In the end, she decides she must try the necklace.

*

“I want to kiss too. But, ah, don’t you think it’s still too early?”
“Those words shouldn’t come from someone who has already touched both the front and back of my lower body.”
“T-that was an accident. It wasn’t intentional.”
“Even if it was an accidental incident, do you know how hard it was for me to hold back? …Especially when you’re being so provocative.”

Only then did Reina realize that the inside of her body, which had been covered by Patrick’s clothes, was once again exposed. It seemed she had unconsciously let go of the hand that had been holding tightly during their conversation.
Reina hurriedly tried to cover her chest, but Patrick grabbed her wrist, preventing her from doing so. She had to show him her exposed chest once again.
As Reina hesitated with her face flushed red, Patrick gave a gentle smile.

“It’s actually a good thing.”
“What do you mean by a good thing?”
“We can check right now whether the necklace’s magic is real or not.”

Costance Orsi.
Son of a fleet admiral.
It seems that the heir to the Marquisate likes her.

She doesn’t know why he likes a mere civil servant like her,
But his interest was overwhelming for her.
So she decided to quit her job and quietly live in the south…

“…It’s… it’s just a coincidence, Vivi.”

Meeting him in a quiet café in a southern rural village far from the capital,
The coincidence was too much.

*

“Why do you keep running away? Have I… have I done something wrong?”

He was always someone who observed propriety, no matter the situation.
Even when things were urgent, he never acted rashly…

“…I’m sorry.”
“For what, exactly?”

When she hung her head deeply low, Costance nervously bit his lips.

“I… I have something I must tell you.”

Oh no, could it be…

“The reason I kept following you. Vivi, I’m more serious than you think. I want to marr—”
“Stop!”

She cut him off in a panic.
Costance looked at her with tearful eyes wide open.

“Please, please…”
“…”
“Don’t propose to me. Please…”

Eventually, Costance’ expression completely crumbled.

She thought she was dead until she opened her eyes again and met him.

“Where am I?”

And she realized this wasn’t the place she had lived her entire life.
A body endlessly weakened; a whole new world that felt entirely unfamiliar.
The only place she could lean on in that unfamiliar place was,

“Ria, save her, my wife.”

He was the one that kept her alive.

However, before she could even sort out her confused feelings, three men approached her.

“I want you to know that everything I do is out of love and my desire to possess you.”

Another Duke confessed to her with a seductive, dangerous smile.

“Use me to get everything you want, take everything you desire, it doesn’t matter what it is, I can give it all to you.”

A Knight who claims to have cherished her from the beginning.

And then,

“I want to touch you. Let me touch you, Ria.”
Even the passionate prince, whispering with his golden eyes that she couldn’t look away from.

As they offer their own leash to her hand.